The world’s largest exchange, Binance, is now authorized to offer its services in Abu Dhabi. The exchange has been granted Financial Services Permission (FSP) in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).
The Financial Services Permission will allow Binance to offer crypto custody services to professional clients. However, the exchange is required to meet the conditions of the FSP as outlined by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Global Market stated,
“We look forward to supporting Binance’s operations and R&D in ADGM to develop solutions for the Web3.0 economy.”
Meanwhile, Richard Teng, Regional Head of MENA and Europe, said that “working with the ADGM and FSRA has been a highly collaborative process that underscores the value of cooperation between our industry and the public sector.”
Additionally, the exchange was granted In-Principle Approval (IPA) by the ADGM regulator in April 2022 to function as a broker-dealer in virtual assets.
Binance the top crypto superpower?
After the whole FTX fiasco, Binance has emerged as the top crypto exchange, with little competition. The exchange has also posted its proof of reserves in an attempt to boost customer confidence. Based on current market prices, the total market value of its reported reserves was approximately $69 billion.
The exchange has 475,000 Bitcoin ($7.8 billion), 4.8 million ether ($5.57 billion), 17.6 billion USDT ($17.4 billion), and 601 million USDC ($607 million). Moreover, the exchange reported 21.7 billion of its stablecoin BUSD (worth $21.9 billion) and 58 million of its BNB tokens (worth $16 billion).
Now, the crypto markets are going through one of their lowest phases. However, many expect the industry to pull out of the slump within a year or so. Binance is still the number one exchange in the world, with FTX, which was second, out of the picture.
At press time, Binance’s BNB token was trading at $274.27, down by 17.1% over the last week.